Shoe rack



July 5, 1960 T. L. ATKINSON SHOE RACK Filed June 23, 1958 INVENTOR.TRUMAN L. ATKINSON BY@MMM ATTORNEYS United States Patent() 2,943,741SHOE RACK Truman L. Atkinson, Ludington, Mich., assignor to AtkinsonManufacturing Company, Inc., Ludington,

Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed June 23, 1958, Ser. No. 743,742

Claims. (Cl. 211-37) This invention relates to shoe racks in general andmore particularly to the shoe supports provided on shoe racks.

Shoe'racks include those which are mounted on a wall or the back of adoor and those which are free standing. The free standing shoe rack, inparticular, is required to have a shoe receiving member or support whichwill not unbalance the shoe rack when a shoe is received thereon.Generally the free standing rack is provided with separate and parallelrows of shoe supports to more evenly distribute the weight of shoesreceived on the supports.

It is an object of this invention to disclose a free standing shoe rackof this type which includes a new and improved form of shoe receivingsupport.

The shoe support of this invention is provided from commonly availablematerial formed to a simple shape. The support is formed from a singlepiece of wire rod to include an elongated loop. The bight of the loop isformed to receive the toe of a shoe thereover or to have the heel of ashoe placed therein.

The particular form of the disclosed shoe support is that of a commonlyknown shoe sole and heel. The heel shape of the support is provided bythe bight of the elongated wire loop. The wire member is formed toinclude inbent shoulders at the instep of the shoe sole shape. Theseshoulders, with the bight, form a partially closed loop which resemblesthe shape of a heel and which will readily receive the heel of a shoetherein.

The shoe supports of this invention are preferably secured to a crossbar of a shoe rack. They are intended to: be slightly inclined so that ashoe having its heel engaged in the heel receptive part of the shoesupport will have its sole supported on the rest of support member.Those shoes which have their toes engaged over the supports will hangfree from the end of the support. The supports themselves all lie in acommon plane.

Numerous advantages in the use of the disclosed shoe rack with thedescribed shoe supports will be better appreciated after an examinationof the specification and the illustrations of a preferred form of thisinvention, which follows.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective illustration of a shoe rack including the shoesupports of this invention.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the shoe rack shown by Fig. 1 having the toe ofa shoe received over the end of one of the supports.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the shoe rack shown by Fig. 1 with the heel ofa womans shoe engaged with one of the shoe supports.

The drawing shows a shoe rack particularly intended for womens shoes.The rack includes standards 12 and 14 at each end that provide legs 16and 18 for the rack. The cross members 20 of the standards 12 2 and 14include slots 22 that receive the ends of the lateral rack bracingmembers 24.

The lateral rack members 24 are simple straight wire rod members whichhave their ends bent back and at right angles to form tongues 26. Thetongues 26 are received in the slots 22' of the standards and aresnapped into engagement therewith. p

A plurality of shoe supports 30 are mounted on each of the lateralmembers 24 of the rack 10. Each of the supports 30 is formed to the sameshape and each group of supports, on the separate lateral braces 24,lies in a common plane. The supports 30 are each inclined slightly tothe vertical at an angle of about twenty to thirty degrees.

The supports 30 are provided from a wire rod similar to that used forthe lateral braces 24. The wire is formed into an elongated loop and hasits ends spaced apart slightly and secured to the lateral brace 24. Theelongated wire loop includes the bight 32 which is disposed uppermost.Thebight 32 of the wire loop is of a size readily received within thetoe of a shoe 40, as shown by Fig. 2.

The wire member which forms the supports 30 is further formed to includea pair of inbent shoulder portions 34 and 36 near the bight 32. Theshoulders 34 and 36, in combination with the bight 30, give the supportsthe general shape of a shoe sole and heel. The bight 30 with theshoulders 34 and 36, provides a partially closed loop which forms theheel shape. The rest of the wire member forms the shape of aproportionately undersized shoe sole.

The partially closed loop formed by the bight 30 and shoulders 34 and 36is readily receptive of the heel of a shoe 40 therein, as shown by Fig.3. In the present instance, the heel shape is intended to accommodatethe heel of a womans high-heeled shoe. However, the form might be variedin size for men's shoes.

The disclosed supports 30 are particularly suited for use with womenshigh-heeled shoes which have generally smaller sized and tapered heelsthat are more readily received and engaged in the heel receiving loop ofthe support.

A shoe 40, having its heel engaged in the support 30, will have the soleof the shoe resting on the inclined part of the shoe support, as shownby Fig. 3.

The disclosed shoe supports 30 are seen to be highly adaptable forsupporting shoes either by their toes or their heels. Thus the users ofthe shoe rack may accommodate both high-heeled or low-heeled shoes onthe same rack and may hang the shoes either by their toes or heels.

While a preferred embodiment of this invention has been described, itwill be understood that other modifications and improvements may be madethereto. Such of these modifications and improvements as incorporate theprinciples of this invention are to be considered as included in thehereinafter appended claims unless these claims by their languageexpressly state otherwise.

I claim:

1. A shoe rack for womens high heeled and other shoes, comprising; thecombination of a standard having a plurality of supports providedthereon and each inclined at an angle from a vertical plane, saidsupports having the uppermost ends thereof formed to receive the toe ofa shoe thereover, and shoulders adjacent said uppermost ends cooperatingwith said uppermost ends to receive the heel of a high heeled shoetherebetween, the inclined face of said support being receptive of thesole of said high heeled shoe in said latter position.

2. A shoe rack, comprising; the combination of a standard having aplurality of separate shoe receiving supports thereon and each disposedat an inclined angle Patented July5, 1960- member formed to include anelongated loop having the bight thereof disposed uppermost, shoulderportions formed from said wire member and within said loop near thebights thereof, said shoulder portions and said bight forming apartially closed wire loop of a size and shape receptive of the heel ofa shoe-therein, and said bight being of a size and shape adapted toreceive the toe of a shoe thereover, the lower portion of said supportsaffording support thereon-for the soles of shoes having the heelsreceived in said partially closed wire loops, and free hanging supportfor shoes having their toes received thereover.

3. In a shoe rack having a support and at least a pair of shoe holders,said shoe holders being a single loop comprising: each of said shoeholders having a body portion and a bight port-ion aligned therewith andjoined by generally horizontal shoulders; said shoe holders eachprojecting upwardly from said standard at a major angle substantiallyless than 90 and having said bight portion at the upper end thereof;said bight portion having an open center of a size to receivetherethrough the heel of a high heel shoe, said shoulders forming a stopfor engaging the heel and holding the shoe against downward slidingmovement; said bight also being of a size to be received in the toe of ashoe whereby a shoe may be hung therefrom.

4. In a shoe rack having a support and at least a pair of shoe holders,said shoe holders comprising: each of said shoe holders being a singleloop having a body portion projecting upwardly from said standard at amajor angle substantially less than 90; the 'upper end 4 of said shoeholders being aligned with said body portion and flared laterally in abight portion open through the center; said bight portion being joinedto said body portion by a shoulder portion, said shoulder portionextending inwardly substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of saidshoe holder; said open center of said bight portion being of'a' size toreceive therethrough the heel of a high heel shoe, said shoulder portionforming a stop for engaging the heel and holding the shoe againstdownward sliding movement; said bight also being of a size to bereceived in the toe of a shoe whereby a shoe may be hung therefrom.

5. A shoe rack comprising a standard, andla plurality of shoe supportsmounted on said standard and being inclined from a vertical plane at anangle generally less than 45, said shoe supports having an end portionwhose outer periphery is of a size and shape to slip into the toe of ashoe, said end portion also defining an opening of a size and shape toengage the heel of a high-heeled shoe inserted therethrough, and a lowerportion adjacent said end portion, said lower portion of said shoesupports being of a size .and shape and in a position to support thesole of a shoe when the heel thereof is inserted into said opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D.157,144 Grindinger Feb. 7, 1950 D. 165,942 Stein Feb. 12, 1952 940,812Hermann Nov. 23, 1909 1,710,731 Hawkins Apr. 30, 1-929

